Energy & Transportation

“…the real industry revolution is not how we fuel our vehicles, but how we build them.”

Survey articles on the future of energy and one word appears more than any other – oil.

Ask most people about current energy problems and they might say – my car’s gas bill.

Beyond climate change, one idea receives the most attention – oil and its dominant role in powering the transportation sector.

There is no doubt that oil will continue to be the dominant input for transportation systems in the foreseeable future, but it is also recognized that the fundamentals of the conventional oil business have changed. The good ol’ days have turned to something more complicated and controversial.

The oil industry has entered a new era where expanding production (e.g. Arctic and Deep water) will struggle to keep pace with accelerated demand. Declining oil field productivity, rising production costs, aging industry workforce, and challenging geopolitical landscape has made business more difficult.

Meanwhile, there is a growing consensus among automobile industry leaders that the days of the combustion engine are numbered.

Look beyond 2025 and oil’s primary role could start to shift from being a transportation fuel to a feedstock for other hydrocarbon-based materials. Still an enormous resource, but less relevant to energy systems.

‘Electrification of the Transportation Sector’

The Energy Roadmap.com will be focusing on the acceleration of change in transportation around next generation biofuels and the development of electric motor propulsion systems

The next wave of growth for the auto industry might not be life after oil, but the low cost of manufacturing with life after the combustion engine.

What are the implications of the electrification of the world’s transportation fleet where batteries, fuel cells and capacitors become mainstream?

Might these systems change how vehicles are built, sold and upgraded in the future?